Smorgasburg Toronto Food Festival

 My blog has had a bit of a hiatus due to Covid 19 restrictions and the fact that there really wasn't anything going on and I was just tired.  Tired of working from home and being limited to what I could do compared to what I used to do.  I was also growing tired of going to festivals before the pandemic because the TTC made it challenging to get around.  So I took a longer than planned break.   In May I finally went to a big Food Event with the Restaurant Canada Show at the Enercare centre.  That was a big deal to see friends, meet new people and eat food at an event again.  

On Saturday I returned to my heart of events.  The Outdoor food festival.  I have been following Smorgasburg in New York on social media for a while and drooling over all the amazing looking food.  So when I found out that Toronto was going to get a Smorgasburg too I got really excited.  What makes Smorgasburg amazing is the unique food you can get in one place.  I then found out that Toronto Food writer Suresh Doss was going to be curating it and I thought it wasn't going to be like all the other Toronto food festivals that usually have the same vendors.  I actually got really excited to go on saturday morning to the 2nd day of 8 consecutive Saturdays until September 10th.  I was so determined to go that I was even going to go by myself and then my friend sent me info about it and I told her I was already planning on going and she said she was able to join me.  Normally I don't ask because she has a young child but the stars aligned for a glorious saturday.  The weather was perfect, a slightly breezy 27 degrees and the Festival is located at 7 Queens Quay East just by the lake in a parking lot just beside where you would get on a ferry boat and the Harbour Castle hotel.  The reason I didn't go to week one was because most weekends the Line 1 of the Subway is closed because of the Eglinton crosstown but I noticed it never closes on long weekends so this was the perfect weekend to go.  It was Caribana weekend so there were lots of people all around all ready to play Mas and the locals had headed to the cottages.  

full video on Instagram Reels @lindamatarasso

I haven't been excited about much in a long time but this made me feel like the old me.  Excited to see what new foods I could try and hang out by the lake with my friend too.

I was not disappointed.  The skies were blue with puffy clouds that said enjoy the day.  The festival is located in a parking lot and it's only about a 5 minute walk from the Queens Quay streetcar stop.  Really easy to find.  First you see a line of food trucks, not part of the festival and I don't know if they are usually there but ok you got options.  It was so great to see such diverse foods from all over Toronto and not the usually downtown restaurants that normally do a lot of festivals.  I love them but I wanted to try a lot of things I haven't tried all in one place.  

I am not sure how adventurous I was but I enjoyed everything I ate.   My friend Joanne and I tried to share as many things as we could so we could try more.  I can't eat as much as I used to.

First we landed on a booth that was showing a permanent planned space for this type of event.  You had to toss a ball in a bucket and you got a freezie.  Great way to start.

The first thing we tried was from Alma and Gil.  I never heard of them before but apparantly they are on Dupont Street.  Joanne had the Elote corn and I got the Chicken Tamale.  I chose it because it's not something I can find in my area or make.  I made Elote a few weeks ago.   It was delicious.  Great food start.

Then we had the Skewered beef and fish spring rolls with peanut sauce from Babi & Co an Indonesian vendor.  I have been wanting Indonesian for a while.  The Beef was amazing.  They need to bottle the marinade.  While the fish in the spring rolls was very plain the peanut dipping sauce was excellent.

Moving on.  I wanted an iced coffee and there were a few different ones around but I stopped at Kiss My pans booth.  I have been following them on Instagram.  They are from Singapore and the iced coffee is called Koppi or something like that.  The vendor explained it's a similar method as Vietnamese coffee and they use condensed milk and evaporated milk.   It was so good I went back for another one.  They sold out of their food a couple of hours into the festival.

When we first got there I said lets just walk around and see what there is and then decide.  I first walked by a Sushi taco and at first I wasn't sure I wanted one but after walking around I really wanted one so we split the Salmon and Tuna Nori Sushi Taco.  I had the Tuna and Joanne had the torched Salmon.  The tuna one was excellent and the crunch on the Tempura batter dipped Nori was amazing.   I had sushi tacos near me but this was how they were supposed to be.  It was from Albi Sushi.  they are at the 401 and Kennedy Rd in Scarborough.

So as you can see the vendors really did come from all over the city and not the usual downtown hot spots.  That's what made it different.  These little independent vendors showcased their own food that was so diverse and excellent.

The bonus of the day was running into 3 foodie friends.  Yashy (pictured), Annie and Amanda.  All Toronto bloggers too.  I got a chance to chat with Suresh before we left who was with his family.  He told me that they do a refresh with different vendors in week 5 so I am praying that the TTC lets me go another time to see a whole new group of vendors.

I told Suresh (Doss) (CBC food writer) that the festivals was the only thing I missed during the pandemic closures and I realized it really was the only thing.  I thought it would be film festivals but streaming has made that easier but there is nothing like meeting the people who make your food and thanking them and smelling all the delicious food and trying all kinds of things you have never tried or can't make yourself.

Yes I love a great food festival and this one was small but mighty and the lineups weren't as crazy as some festivals I have been to.  Maybe it's foodie hidden secret so far..  me and my foodie friends may have let the secret out of the bag but hard not to share a great new thing.

Give some new vendors some love and attention.  It's great for the city and for their businesses.  I am hoping they are able to build a permanent spot for this like they have in some US cities and like the Smorgasburg in New York that this came from.

Don't forget to go early because food sells out fast.

You better Verk at Verkspace

YOU BETTER VERK

Last week I went downtown to check out Verkspace, is a newly opened shared work space concept that as been carefully designed to have form and function.  The name Verkspace is Icelandic for labout and this space was designed with Scandanavian influenced design.  It is meant to be clean like office space but comfortable like a home space.  Only having been open for a short time this building is still in development for future uses in the different areas in the building.  They are planning on developing an space for food demos and events in the upper floor area.  There will also be more private office spaces along with the communal spaces.  An area with no windows meant to be used for designers and techies that need to just focus on their computer screens with little distractions.  This space is meant to be used for people that are start up entrepreneurs and people that travel a lot and don't need permanent office space.

The basic membership is $95/month and includes 2hr/month boardroom booking.

Membership Perks:

• Downtown address
• Package Receiving
• High Speed Internet
• Printing
• Cleaning Service
• Neigbourhood Perks
• Boardrooms + Lounges
• Community Managers & Reception
• Coffee & Beverage Service

Hot Desk - $250-$275/month

Dedicated Desk - $500-$575/month

2 Person Office - $1,500-$1750/month

3-4 Person Office - $2,200-$2500/month

4-6 Person Office - $3200-$3500/month

The advantage of using a service/space like this is that you don't have to invest in all of the office furniture and the investment of starting up an office and all of the logistics and you can customize to get what you need as you grow your business.  It makes your company look larger than it is because you don't have to pay for the whole space on your own so you can get a large space with out paying the huge overhead of it.  You will also get to meet other entrepreneurs that you could partner with or trade services with.  If you have a big meeting but have just started up and are still working out of your home this could give you an instant office where you could have meetings or do collaborative work if you don't have the space or the location that is convenient to meet up.  Unlike a coffee shop you won't have the distractions and you can have the privacy you may need to discuss confidential information and not worrying about the guy next to you having a coffee hearing your whole conversation.

I have seen other shared work spaces but this is the nicest and cleanest place with the most flexibility of any of the other spaces that I have seen.   During a short contract I worked at an organization that helped young start ups get help and I can tell you that they have enough work to do without dealing with office space.  This really makes it easy to get work done in a professional and comfortable environment.  I highly recommend checking it out and see if it might be useful to your business needs.

INFO:

Website: www.verkspace.ca

Instagram: @verk.space

Twitter: @join_verkspace

Facebook: Verkspace

Hashtag: #VerkBetter

Verkspace location:

32 Britain Street, Suite 200. 

Toronto, ON M5A 

Info@verkspace.ca

T. 416-286-5749

I will be trying out this space soon and will do another post about my experience then.

Chef Rob Feenie opens the Cactus Club in Toronto [REVIEW]

I met up with a friend on the warmest November day we have had in a very long time in Toronto and we decided to go for lunch.  We had an event to go to in the evening but had lot's of time to linger over a nice lunch so I suggested going to the Newly opened Cactus Club Cafe restaurant.  The restaurant created by Vancouver well known Chef Rob Feenie brings the  West Coast to the East Coast.

It's located at 77 Adelaide Street West at the First Canadian Place.  A great destination for the business crowd and in an area that is dominated by Path food courts and not very impressive restaurants this restaurant really stands out.  There are so many things that really rise above most of the restaurants in the area including the entrance from Adelaide Street.  Upon walking toward the restaurant we were immediately drawn to the Yellow Umbrellas on the Patio and the Fire bank leading toward the entrance.  It's a spectacular patio and huge sign you can't miss on the front of the restaurant that says check me out I am big and beautiful.
When you step inside you are greeted by some very attractive women dressed in professional but very pretty blue dresses.  Very friendly but I think they are still getting used to how things work but it's new so that's ok.  We were seated at a high top table just in front of the entrance and in front of an elevator so we asked if we could move and they were able to move us to the dining room upstairs a few minutes later.  I am so glad we were able to move.  The downstairs area is more of a bar like environment while the upstairs is a very glamourous dining room.  We were seated at a table for 4 but we were really happy about that because we ordered a lot of food that wouldn't have been able to fit on a 2 top table.

 You know a restaurant is destined for success when you look around the room and there is a prominent Gossip columnist and a well respected Chef and media personality with their people at different tables and both catered to by Chef Rob Feenie.  The well known Chef was even given a tour of the restaurant by Chef Feenie.  Hey Chef,  bloggers here want a tour too.  Don't get me wrong we received excellent service but I would have loved to check out the kitchen too.  I had a peek when I went to the washroom which was also spectacular.  There was a full length mirror with a selfie tag on it so that you could take a selfie in there and post your pic with the tag.  So of course we did that.

The Food was really unexpected as well.  We were expecting tiny portions for the prices of what we ordered because that's generally the case in restaurants with Chef's of his calibre.  We decided to share everything and ordered the Tuna stack which I heard Rob Feenie talk about being one of their signature dishes. It was stacked with chunks of avocado and citrus pieces and dotted with sesame seeds and with a mild dressing.  It was served with light chips.  This was a standout for me.  I am already a sucker for tuna dishes but this one was so light and just the greatest balance of creamy, rich and citrus flavourings.  It was a great size for a lunch dish for 1 with maybe something on the side but also great for sharing.
We decided to order the fish tacos, an order comes with 2 tacos and we were expecting a couple bite tacos but these things were humungous.  The fish deep fried perfectly with a light batter coating.  It was topped with white cabbage and pickled red onions and came with a tomato salsa and chipotle mayo.  I didn't like the salsa that much and skipped the mayo.  I would have preferred a lime crema I think on top.   The next huge dish was the deep fried calamari.  Also battered in a light and crunchy batter it was mixed with deep fried jalapeno slices and red pepper slices.  It was easily a great sharing plate for 3 or 4 people.  It came with a tzatziki and another sauce.
We also thought the ceviche we ordered would come in a small dish but was plated on a platter.  It was pretty heavy on the lime citrus and it came with tortilla chips.  It was good but wasn't as good as the Tuna stack.  We didn't order any drinks or dessert and the bill was about $30 each.  We ate everything but took home what was like a full order of the calamari.

Bring your appetite and lot's of friends.  It's a gorgeous space to either have a date, a business lunch or a great lunch or dinner with friends.

What I really loved about the place was the decor though.  Other than the fact that the lighting wasn't very food photo friendly but it was people flattering.  The lighting fixtures were spectacular and the artwork around the room was colourful and super modern and interesting.

What a great space and the food and service are what you would expect from a Chef like Rob Feenie with a solid reputation for producing a quality restaurant.

I really loved every bit of it and highly recommend checking it out.   This might bite me later in not being able to get a table in the dining room but hopefully someone will read this post and find a spot for me.  I would love to see more restaurants outside of the typical King, Queen and Dundas Street West areas around town.  This one is right in the heart of downtown.  It makes me happy and I wish I was still working in the area.
Thanks Chef Feenie for bringing some light to the East Coast.